“I didn’t think research was an option for me when I started my degree,” said the Bachelor of Business (Logistics and Supply Chain Management) student whose academic writing impressed his lecturer Dr Reza Akbari, Program Manager and senior lecturer at RMIT Vietnam School of Business & Management.
An initial conversation with Dr Akbari about his interest in technology, especially how 3D printing could impact on logistics and the supply chain, helped Nghiep defined his academic pathway and unlocked his potential in data analysis.
“Dr Akbari started to coach me on how to find academic journals, read them and interpret them into academic writing,” Nghiep shared. “The more I read and made sense of the data, the more I became interested in the field.”
“The vast pool of human knowledge and years of effort of academia around the world are all condensed in research papers,” Nghiep said. “All we need to do is to read them as much as possible. And at RMIT, we [students] have access to an unlimited digital collection of e-books, e-journals and Google Scholar.”
“It was not easy at first, as writing was not my strength,” Nghiep said. “I have deliberately developed my reading habit and practised paraphrasing references as much as possible.”
After six months of hard work and determination, Nghiep received the “Best Paper Award” at the 12th International Conference of Asian Shipping and Logistics (ICASL 2019) and the paper, co-written with Dr Akbari, was recently published in the Asian Journal of Shipping and Logistics (Elsevier Q2 Rank).
The paper examines the impact and benefits of advanced technology, affecting logistics services and transportation in Vietnam. The abstract states: “Vietnam is currently one of the most attractive emerging markets in the world. The findings from this research provide timely and valuable new insights into this phenomenon [3D printing], as a potential mechanism for assisting the revolution of the transportation industry towards improving traffic congestion and pollution.”
Nghiep’s lecturer and coach, Dr Akbari, said Nghiep had made terrific progress and was a positive role model for others.
“Nghiep is very friendly and caring to other students and staff alike,” Dr Akbari said. “He has actively engaged in many activities such as taking the role as a program tutor for the logistics program, participating in the Nielsen Business Case Competition and winning first place, and helping with other projects from RMIT Melbourne.”
